


In Hot Water

by spiritinthespacebar



Category: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (TV)
Genre: Bathtubs, Canon-Typical Body Image & Diet Issues, Canon-Typical Cussin', Dinner Date, F/F, First Kiss, First Time, Flirting Via Fur Coats, Groping, Illustrated, Inexperienced Lesbian/Experienced Bisexual, It Was Supposed To Be A Casual Relationship, Late Blooming, Making Up, Midge Gives A Pep Talk, Non-Explicit Sex, Opening Night Is A Disaster, The Bed Is For Sex And The Bath Is For Feelings, Vaginal Fingering (Implied)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-13 01:08:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29643495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spiritinthespacebar/pseuds/spiritinthespacebar
Summary: Susie Myerson is trying to make two show business careers happen. Sophie Lennon is trying to do Serious Theater, and her new hobby is making passes at Susie. They have already gone from enemies to business associates, and their relationship is about to change again.Starts after S3E6, ends shortly after S3E7.
Relationships: Susie Myerson/Sophie Lennon
Comments: 3
Kudos: 3
Collections: Femslash February





	In Hot Water

**Author's Note:**

> This appears to be not only the first Susie/Sophie fic on the archive, but also the first fic in which Sophie appears at all. I've never been first before! Maybe I get ship-naming privileges, in which case: Lenyerson. I'd love to hear if you shipped them before reading this, and/or if you started shipping them because of this!

Despite the whole world’s comments about Susie Myerson looking like some lady’s boyfriend, she had never been such a thing. It wasn’t that they were wrong about her wanting to kiss women, but she didn’t have something they all thought she did: assertiveness or desirability, or whatever combination of traits it was supposed to take to actually hit the part where the lips touched the other lips. So she was having a hard time sorting out what Sophie Lennon meant by all these--what were they? As direct as they were getting, they’d have to be called “advances”.

She went through the list again in her head, staring up at the stained ceiling of her ratty cupboard of an apartment. When Sophie had asked Susie to rub her back. When Sophie had insisted that Susie hold her hand while walking around the hallways during rehearsal breaks. When Sophie had bragged about her new imported bedsheets. And the constant trickle of fur coats. Though Midge had gotten a coat too… Maybe Susie was reading too much into things. 

Still. Just in case, if Sophie  _ was  _ coming on to her, she had better plan how she would respond. She wasn’t used to being pursued, in her personal life or on the job. Well, Sophie had chased her down and made her her manager. But not other than that. So how were you supposed to figure out if you wanted to fuck the person who propositioned you?

Susie tried to remember how Sophie had looked when she’d called her in while she was changing in the new theater’s dressing room. She had been doing her best not to look, actually. A woman who dressed like Susie could never be seen looking, in any spaces where women casually took their clothes off. But that self-control could bite her in the ass too. She thought Sophie’s body probably looked good, those calf-length pants had fit her well the other day. And maybe someone achievement-oriented would be a good choice, could make her first time more satisfying. And she had to admit, to herself if not anybody else: she really wanted someone to want her.

~~~

“Ah, Susie, you’ve arrived.” Sophie looked up from the leather-bound book in her lap. “I was just reminiscing about my days at the Yale School of Drama. Come, take a look at my yearbook.”

“Sure, Sophie.” Susie came over to lean against the winged back of Sophie’s armchair.

“Here we are in Twelfth Night. You see my former lover Charles, in the yellow stockings?”

“Yeah.”

“A true gentleman. He was the only classmate I ever bedded…”

“Oh?”

“... on this page.” Sophie helpfully turned to the next one. “On  _ this  _ page, there was him, him, him, and--” her eyes flicked up to meet Susie’s “--her.”

Susie looked down at her. She would keep her cool if it killed her. “Her too, huh? You’re a real heartbreaker.”

“I couldn’t help it if intelligent, creative souls were drawn to me. And they all liked to kiss and tell, which gave me something of a reputation. A reputation for deep sexual magnetism.” Sophie fluttered her eyelashes. “But I’ve grown to take more care in where I bestow my affections.”

“Since Gavin, the other day?”

“Oh yes, I’m completely past it.”

“That’s good,” said Susie.

~~~

“No one knows how to act anymore!” It was the fourth time this specific complaint had come up in Sophie’s post-rehearsal tirade, which had lasted out of the theater, through the car ride, and up the stairs into her sumptuous home. The novelty had worn totally off for Susie, but Sophie was adamant that she needed her manager to come back with her and debrief.

“If the other two look bad it’ll be obvious that you’re better.”

“That was already obvious. I don’t need them to make it  _ glaring _ ,” Sophie huffed. She shed her coat and gloves in the hall, and her handbag halfway up the stairs, while her complaints moved on to every note the director had given her. Susie trotted in her wake--Sophie had been very clear about her not leaving until the conversation was over, if it ever would be--and slid a little on the tiles as Sophie swept into her bathroom and turned the water on, her left hand already making progress on her the buttons of her dress.

“Oh okay, you want a bath?” Susie cut in, interrupting Sophie’s latest point about characterization. 

“I  _ need  _ a bath! I’m so upset I fear I may never be able to relax again if I don’t do something now.”

Susie didn’t laugh. She was becoming a model of self-restraint.

“Don’t just stand there, do I look like I can unbutton this on my own?”

“Silly me.” Susie stepped into Sophie’s shadow. Sophie did actually look like she could unbutton her dress on her own; she’d undone ten of the buttons one-handed. If Susie hadn’t been clued in before, the pair of buttons that remained were speaking volumes.

With the rush of the tap in her ears, Susie unbuttoned one slowly, and then the other. Then she stepped back, but she kept her eyes on the exposed skin down the midline of Sophie’s torso. After all, she had decided before that if this happened again, she would watch. As Sophie finished undressing, the figure she revealed showed her age in sags and creases. To Susie’s surprise, she liked the effect. The trim waist that hinted at decades of control and self-criticism; the full breasts that, decidedly tits-down, felt familiar; the iron-straight posture. It all worked together: she looked stately and proud and… attainable? Like something Susie was allowed to want.

When she got around to looking at Sophie’s face, Sophie was looking back. Her sharp blue eyes glinted. She turned off the tap and slid into the bathtub.

“What do you think, did it work? Will you be able to relax ever again?”

Sophie rested her cheek on the rim of the tub. “You could be contributing. If you like what you see.”

Every muscle in Susie’s body was screaming  _ this is it _ . And dammit, this was going to be it. “All right, Sophie.” She squatted down next to the tub and kissed her.

It was exactly what she had imagined. Or, it was nothing like she had imagined. Susie wasn’t thinking too hard about it. Sophie’s lips were warm as she gripped Susie by the back of her neck. Susie took some time to work out where her own hands should be, and settled for tangling her fingers in Sophie’s hair. Surprisingly soft for its level of structural integrity. The tub was digging into her. She didn’t want to stop.

It felt like Susie was really getting the hang of kissing. Breathless and emboldened, she slipped her right hand under the water and stroked Sophie’s breast. Sophie hummed against her lips. Susie liked how this felt, too, though the water was creeping up her sleeve and her pants were too tight where they bunched up at her knees.

Sophie broke from their kiss, and reached out of the tub to pull at the hem of Susie’s shirt. “Why are you still wearing this? You should take it off, and we can get started properly.”

Susie’s senses spread back into her brain like the new wet spot on her front. “Actually,” she said once she had retrieved her hand from Sophie’s chest, “I have a rule about buying a woman dinner before we, uh, get to business. You know, like... fucking business.”

Sophie frowned. “I must be losing my touch. No one ever used to pass up what I’m offering you, you know.”

Susie stood up and stepped back from the tub, to help toughen her resolve. “You’ve told me that, Sophie. Often and in detail. But you also said you were getting pickier, so I might as well show you I’m a good place to ‘stow your affections,’ or whatever you said.”

“Dinner, then,” said Sophie. “Tomorrow. And I’ll buy it for  _ you _ , if that won’t violate your ridiculous rule. I want to eat somewhere you can’t afford.”

“Rude!” Susie laughed, and headed for the door. “See you tomorrow.”

“And it was ‘bestow’! I said ‘bestow my affections’!” Sophie shouted after her. 

~~~

In fact, this was the first Susie had heard of her rule, and when she flopped into bed in her now-very-clammy shirt, she wondered why she’d said it. She wasn’t scared to have sex. Obviously. Not in general or with Sophie specifically, although Sophie was basically going for intimidation at all times, so it would have made sense if Susie had been intimidated. But she hadn’t. Maybe it was just that since she was such a late bloomer, she wanted some advance notice about her first time. Yeah, that was it. Now she had a whole day to look forward to it, and if Sophie got even more desperate after being put off, that was a bonus. Susie would have to get started with the anticipation bit right away, really make the most of it.

She actually saved her most feverish fantasies for the next morning, because she was out cold in minutes.

The phone rang at ten thirty with the time and place Sophie had made a reservation. Susie wondered if Sophie was feeling shy, or just liked delegating the planning of dates to her staff. It surprised her how much she was looking forward to hearing her voice. She was made to understand that the attire at this restaurant was formal, and she eyed her lone Nice Manager’s Jacket. It’d have to do.

She had booked a few more radio ads for Midge today, which cut into the time she could have used overthinking how the night would go. Planning ahead never failed to screw Susie over. She somehow made it to the restaurant exactly on time, and gave the fake name Sophie’s reservation was under. One of the waiters in the shiny black shirts showed her to a tiny private dining room.

Sophie was already there, in a shiny deep-purple dress that didn’t come as far up the neck as usual. The light from the tiny chandelier above the table pinged off all of her jewelry. “You’re late,” she said.

Susie sat in the other chair. “Nice try! I’m exactly on time.” She fixed Sophie with what she hoped was a steamy stare. “But it’s a nice compliment that you couldn’t wait for dinner with me to start.”

“I have been looking forward to the evening,” Sophie said airily.

“What’s good at this place?” Susie picked up the menu: small and printed on heavy paper. She figured this dinner didn’t have to be just a formality. It could also be dinner.

“The chef is very selective about what makes it onto the menu, I expect you’ll be impressed by anything you try. You know I keep a careful eye on my diet, but don’t let me deter you from something substantial.”

“If I were you I’d take a night off from all the careful eyeing.” Susie leaned forward. “You know. Indulge.”

It might have been a trick of the light, but it seemed like Sophie blushed. “If you insist. Perhaps we’ll share.”

“Perfect.”

They started off by splitting a sauvignon blanc and a whole whopping artichoke with a buttery dipping sauce. It was slow going, and Susie wasn’t sure how Sophie was eating her share so neatly.

“You know, I wasn’t expecting a private room. It feels kinda illicit to be out of sight like this.”

“Oh, I hoped so,” said Susie, plucking another leaf from the artichoke and sucking on it in a way that had to be pointed. Then she laughed. “No, this is simply a better way to keep people from realizing that I am not my stage persona.”

“Here I was, thinking maybe you didn’t want to be seen with me, but you just don’t want to be seen. I’m not offended, a private date’s nice. It’s a shame you’re all dressed up for my eyes only, though.”

“I don’t intend to be for long.” Sophie raised her eyebrows in case Susie had missed the point. “Oh, but--” she sipped from her wine, maybe mulling over her next words. “I hope I’ve been clear that we are having dinner, not dating one another. I prefer the unattached lifestyle, as I’m sure you know.”

“Oh yeah, I didn’t mean anything by it. A casual dinner.” It was weird that Sophie’s face fell when Susie agreed with her about this. Susie made up her mind not to worry about it. “When do you think they’ll bring the risotto?”

~~~

It was the most pleasant conversation Susie had had with Sophie, by a long shot. When Sophie asked Susie what kind of music she liked, Susie nearly fell out of her chair. The risotto was delicious, and Sophie ate a full portion in front of her. After dessert had been served, Sophie put her hand on Susie’s knee under the table, and Susie put her own hand on top, and they stayed like that until the little crystal plates were empty.

The look in Sophie’s eyes when she asked, “Shall we go?” made the chain of events from the table to the car to Sophie’s bedroom go mostly into a blur. Susie loved what she could see of the room in the light of the expensive lamps. Everything just so, and totally Sophie’s taste.

Sophie kissed her, unhurried now. The novelty for Susie had not worn off at all. She took off her shirt to see if she could pick up the pace. Sophie didn’t need more of an invitation. She grasped her around the waist, ran her hands up and down her sides, and Susie felt  _ shapely  _ all of a sudden. She started to take off Sophie’s dress, and finished the job before she knew it--along with its other features, this dress didn’t have as many buttons as yesterday’s. There was a complex maze of underwear underneath, and Susie tried her hardest not to fumble while removing it all.

“You must have a lot of practice with that,” Sophie whispered in her ear. She breathed in, now-released ribcage expanding.

“Oh, absolutely,” Susie lied. Dumb luck had been with her tonight, and she was just hoping it would hold. She stroked the outside of Sophie’s thigh, and nudged her in the direction of the bed. “Want to see what else I’ve got practice with?”

“Mmm, please enlighten me.”

They fell into the bed the minute they were both naked. Sophie, ever the unstoppable force, took matters--in other words, took Susie--into her own hands. Susie had really intended to fuck Sophie first, but she felt too incredible to care that her plans were lying on the carpet next to her clothes. She gasped against Sophie’s lips, and sighed under her fingers. It was like jumping into a pool on a hot day, which was another feeling that Susie was just getting around to. Without the struggle of swimming lessons, she floated. And she got her chance to try touching Sophie too, before the night was over.

~~~

Her first thought when she woke up was that Sophie’s imported sheets were all they’d been cracked up to be. She pressed her cheek into the pillowcase. She should’ve done this ages ago. Her second thought was that it seemed like she could feel an afterimage of one of Sophie’s long, elegant fingers. She squeezed her thighs together experimentally. Yep, that was it. She rolled closer to Sophie, who lay on her back with an expression as soft as the sheets, the kind she would never wear awake. Susie was liking this better and better.

Sophie must have had fun too, because she kept inviting Susie back to her bedroom every day or two as  _ Miss Julie _ hurtled toward opening night. Susie could only stress so much about keeping the show from disaster when her days were ending like this. And it might have been her imagination, but she thought Sophie’s movements in rehearsal were looking more natural.

Two days before the show, Sophie had a box of chocolates delivered to Susie’s apartment. When Susie thanked her that night, Sophie gave another little speech to make sure she wasn’t getting the wrong idea about the nature of their relationship. Susie thought it would be pretty easy not to buy a woman candy wrapped in shiny paper, if you thought it would make her want to marry you or something. She didn’t argue with Sophie. Another star getting weird before a performance, another day for Susie.

Soon the play would open, and Susie would have pulled off Sophie’s big dream, and everything would be rosy.

~~~

Susie couldn’t believe how completely unrosy everything was. She stomped down the sidewalk at the pace she had named “top-clickety”: the fastest walking speed where Midge could still keep up with her in shoes that were built for looks and nothing else.

“I think we’re enough blocks away now,” said Midge. “Let’s get coffee. After that, we need coffee. And pastries.”

“A goddamn pastry is the last thing I need,” said Susie. “I’m just going to go home.” Within five minutes they were off the street and tucked in a cafe booth.

“I appreciated you saying I’ve got guts,” said Midge, attempting an inroad on Susie’s thundercloud silence.

“You’re welcome.”

“I wonder what set her off.”

“Doesn’t fucking matter. If she can’t follow through under pressure then she can’t. I’m done trying to cut fuses before they make her blow up.”

Midge smoothed her hair. “She was a pretty tough nut to be the second person you manage. Are you going to quit after this?”

“That conversation didn’t look good for our current setup.”

“No, it didn’t.”

“And you’d feel better if I quit managing her, right?”

“It’s your business. I recuse myself!”

Susie sighed. “Speaking of my business, there’s actually another complication.”

“Yeah?”

“I’ve, uh… been sleeping with her,” said Susie.

“Oh!” said Midge. She thought for a full minute, drumming her pretty pink nails on the table. “That  _ should _ change your calculations about what you do next.”

“I really should have stopped managing her already. It’s not a good look to be screwing the talent.”

“Well no,” said Midge. “I meant, if I had been in a shouting match outside the theater where I’d just bombed, and I was  _ involved  _ with the person chewing me out for it… Maybe you should go see her.”

“What?”

“If it were me, I would need comforting. And I cannot believe I’m saying this, but I think Sophie Lennon has feelings. Not entirely different from you or I.”

“Why would she want to see me? She went straight to this catastrophe being my fault!”

“Well, she was cresting a wave of bad decisions for sure. But I don’t think she sounded like she believed it.” Midge sipped her coffee. “I don’t know. What it really comes down to is, do you like her?”

Susie sighed heavily. “I really like her. She’s made me feel… fuck, special? That doesn’t suit me at all.”

“Don’t be silly! It suits you fine.”

“She’s my first. While I’m sharing. And I don’t know why she failed tonight! I really wanted her to kill it. The way she talked about doing serious theater, I wanted to make it happen for her. For her to be happy.”

“Well, that would be more than enough for my mother to make a match. Sounds like love to me.”

“Oof,” said Susie. “You really think I should go see her?”

“I’m coming down on that side of it, for sure. It’s a bummer when you lose someone who makes you feel special. That’s one I know.”

“Yeah. Okay, Midge.” Susie drained her coffee cup. “Are you okay getting yourself home?”

“I’ve got it. Go see Sophie.”

~~~

Susie met no resistance when she came in off the dark street. She said she was here to talk to Sophie, and nothing was going to stop her, not even Dawes.

Sophie was in the bathroom. For a minute Susie hoped that this would have cheered her up, but that hope was unmistakably dashed when she stepped through the door. She was crying in the tub.

“Sophie? Can we talk?”

Sophie turned her shocked, tearstained face to Susie. “It’s late. I don’t want you to see me like this.”

“Oops, I’ve already seen you. Are you gonna tell me to leave?”

Sophie rubbed her face. “No. What did you want to say? Did you have more jabs about who you really care about? You’ve already been perfectly clear you like her better than me.”

Susie shucked off her jacket and laid it, folded, on the tiles. “I’m sorry I said you’d never be a real star.” She pulled her pants off, folded them, and stacked them onto the jacket.

“You were right when you said I don’t have the guts,” Sophie muttered. She sank back down until her chin was in the water. “You worked so hard to get that show for me. To put it all--”

“On your plate,” said Susie evenly, pulling her shirt over her head.

“Fuck,” said Sophie. “Then you only came here to mock me after all. Why are you stripping down?”

Susie coiled the string of her key and dropped it--the last of what she’d been wearing--onto the pile of clothes. “I’m coming in.”

“What?”

But if Sophie had been planning to protest, she didn’t get it out before Susie gripped the edges of the tub and hoisted one leg in, followed shortly by the other. She felt for the plug and let a little water out before she lowered herself in all the way. Even so, the water lapped almost to the edge.

“Here we are, Sophie. Face to face, nice hot bath how you like it. No clothes, no bullshit. We’re going to work this out.”

“How can we work anything out,” Sophie hissed. “I ruined the show, and my chances for a serious career that  _ meant  _ something. But I can’t undo it, and now you think I’m an insane coward who has no respect for your efforts, and I flushed it all, like you said, down the shitter on purpose.”

“Calm down,” said Susie. “I’ve calmed down, and the way I see it is, you choked. It can’t be the first time you’ve choked in your whole career, right?”

Sophie shook her head. “But this is different.”

“Why? Because it was a big night?”

Sophie’s eyes welled up again. “Because I asked you to believe in me! And then I failed!”

The suspicion she’d had since their fancy dinner confirmed, Susie put her wet hand on Sophie’s wet cheek. “Got it, the difference was me.”

“The difference was  _ you _ ,” Sophie wailed. “I’ve ruined it for you, and you walked away from me, and now you won’t come back!”

“I’m in your bathtub, though,” said Susie. “Get your story straight.”

She didn’t like how scared Sophie looked. Her whole thing was inspiring fear, not feeling it. The world shouldn’t be off-kilter like this.

“What if this was my last chance?”

“To do a stupid pompous highbrow play? I’ll get you something else. Maybe off Broadway, like to warm you up.”

Sophie wrung her hands. “I thought you were quitting as my manager.”

“I thought you were firing me, so we can both be wrong if you want.”

Sophie hesitated for a long moment. Together they heard the tap drip once.

“I  _ was  _ wrong. I’m very sorry for how I treated you.” She rested her hand on Susie’s. “I… I want to try again. With your help. And… Susie?”

“Yeah.”

“I should also apologize for lying before. When I said I wanted to have a casual affair.”

Susie grinned. “I know. And I’m sorry for lying, too. When I said I was very experienced at taking a bra off.”

Sophie cracked a watery smile. “I know.”

“All right then. Have we worked it out?”

“It’s not a terrible start.”

“And will the famous Sophie Lennon be my girlfriend?”

Sophie leaned toward Susie, and water sloshed over the edge of the tub. Right before their lips met, she said yes.


End file.
